Craig Hickman has long been one of the good guys in the Maine legislature. A representative since 2012, he has pushed hard from his position on the Agriculture Committee for food sovereignty and food self sufficiency for the state. I met him a couple times while I was in Maine covering court and legislative actions in 2014 and 2015 that ultimately led to the state passing a law guaranteeing food sovereignty, after a couple dozen towns had passed their own individual ordinances guaranteeing individuals the right to buy food directly from farmers and food producers, without interference from regulators.
He walks the walk by running a working farm, selling fiddleheads, eggs, potatoes, and other delectables to neighbors.
To me, the fact that Craig Hickman is one of the only people of color in the Maine legislature has always seemed incidental to his political work. Until last weekend, when he appeared at a rally in Augusta, Maine—one of many dozens in cities large and small protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In a stirring speech in which he declared repeatedly that “Black Lives Matter,” he shared his story about having been victimized by police racism in Boston.
(In addition to the Facebook link above, you can view the video directly below.)
It was a story I remember well, a story that anyone who lived in Boston at the time remembers because it completely riveted the city’s attention for a month or longer in late 1989 thanks to the huge racial overtones. A young white couple, Charles and Carol Stuart, was driving home from a Boston hospital where they had just attended a birthing class; she was seven months pregnant.
Suddenly, there was an attack by a man with a gun, and within seconds, the couple lay bloodied in the front seat. Carol had a bullet in the head, and was near death. Charles had a bullet wound in the side, but his wound wasn’t life-threatening.
Charles told police a black man had ambushed the couple in a robbery gone bad. He described a man, about 30 years old and 6-feet tall. The police went hunting aggressively for the suspect, as described in this account from boston.com:
“Two days after the murder, investigators were building a profile of the man they thought was responsible.
“Investigators say they are convinced that the gunman either lives in or routinely commits crime around the Mission Hill housing project….Some police sources believe the assailant probably has committed several similar robberies by jumping into stopped cars at intersections.’’ (Boston Globe, Oct. 25, 1989)
“Lawmakers wasted no time demanding Massachusetts reinstate the death penalty.
Boston City Councilor Bruce Bolling described a city under siege:
“The situation is reminiscent of the Vietnam War. The only question now is what is the body count.” (Boston Herald, October 25, 1989)
I remember being terribly frightened by the event, as it monopolized the news day after day after day. That could have been my wife and me, I kept thinking. Friends had the same reaction.
In the black areas of Boston, another kind of terror had taken hold. Craig Hickman was a student at Harvard at that time, and potentially fit the description Charles Stuart had provided, as did dozens of other black men. I strongly encourage you to watch and listen to his account above, because it has a much different feel from what I have described. He describes being stopped outside a T station in a black area of Boston and pinned up against a light pole, then a car, then on the ground, with police on top of him; he called out for his mama, he couldn’t breathe.
I had pretty much forgotten about the Charles Stuart situation until I heard Craig bring it up last weekend. I realized as I listened to his speech that it was much easier for me to forget about it than for him. His speech is only ten minutes long, and very moving.
I admire Craig for deciding to stand up and speak to the white audience at the Augusta protest. More blacks are adopting the attitude that it’s not up to them to educate whites about the regular abuse heaped on people of color by police (and other discrimination they face). In their view, it’s whites who have created the problem, and whites should be the ones to fix it.
What this view fails to acknowledge is that lots of whites are ignorant, simply because they have the luxury by virtue of the color of their skin to not have to pay attention every time they go out to work or on an errand and worry that this will be the day they are stopped by a cop like Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.
By the way, over the ten weeks following the attack on the young couple in Boston, Charles Stuart’s story began to fall apart under police questioning and investigation. As the police were closing in on him, he jumped off the Tobin Bridge near Boston Harbor, and killed himself. He had been the gunman, apparently seeking proceeds from life insurance policies he had taken out on his wife.
Thanks again to Craig Hickman for sharing his trauma in that racially charged episode, just one of many we are learning about in the upheaval and cleansing that has taken hold in the U.S. The bad news is that he isn’t running for re-election in November. There have been rumblings about him as a future gubernatorial candidate. Here’s hoping.
David,
Thank you for writing about this.
Raw milk and race relations have some interesting overlap. Biodiversity and race relations definitely does. I was moved by recent articles written in the Real Organic Project and in other organic publications that clearly show the discrimination against blacks and people of color. A recent report showed that black farmers are at their lowest numbers ever.
Add Co-morbidity and compromised immunity of people of color due to poor nutrition and other factors, add in high loss of employment, put a sociopath President who can not feel anything, and you have elements for true change. Top it all off with 8 minutes and 43 seconds of cruel police murder tape and 110,000 dead Americans and you have a long awaited powder keg.
It is about damn time. I am on my knee with my arm raised holding a gallon of raw milk. Power to the people. Power to all black people and the oppressed. It is my hope that the police department’s of America will sort out the heartlessness and keep the compassionate. The blue line has become a line in the sand. Police with morals and with humanitarian service to all people must reject those that become policemen for the wrong reason. Police must not ever consider America to be a battle ground and we the people their enemy.
This is a time of good change. Love and humanity are key to a bright future. Hate has no place in this world.
Love all, feed all, serve all!
What a harrowing story. I’m so sorry to hear of the trauma that Craig Hickman and other Boston-area black men underwent in being falsely accused of that hideous crime. May we learn from the horrible experience Mr. Hickman so generously shared with the public. No one should have to endure that.
A FOOD CHAIN RELEASE FROM MICHAEL OLSON
During the coronavirus pandemic panic, all the big stores were open for business, while all the Mom and Pops’ were forced to close. At least, so it seemed. And so we ask:
Does big business make its own rules & regulations?
The Food Chain Radio Show / Podcast with Michael Olson hosts Erica Smith, Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice, for a conversation about how big business makes rules and regulations that prevent small businesses from competing.
Topics include how North Dakota bureacrats made rules that denied the legislated will of the state’s residents to eat each others’ food; why bureaucrats are afraid to grant food freedom to citizens; and whether citizens are doomed to forever eat the food of big business.
Click to listen: Food Chain #1233
Indeed… and the reputed “health experts” along with their mainstream media counterparts would have us believe that these irrational lockdown restrictions are necessary and based on “science based data”!!!
The sad part of it all is that there are a lot of people who buy into this fear-based tomfoolery ignoring the fact that their noses are being cut off to spite their faces. Additionally, developing with the intent of using a genetically engineered vaccine that is designed to alter the recipient’s DNA is beyond foolishness, it is a reflection of how extreme our aversion and contempt for microbes has become… it is downright insane.
In his research report, “An Orphan in Science: Environmental Risks of Genetically Engineered Vaccines”, Prof. Terje Traavik, Professor and Head of Department of Virology, University of Tromsö and Director, Norwegian Institute of Gene Ecology, Tromsö, Norway states, “…from an ecological and environmental point of view many first generation live, genetically engineered vaccines are inherently unpredictable, possibly dangerous, and should not be taken into wide-spread use until a number of putative problems have been clarified”.
There’s a substantial new study coming out in Nature that contends, based on detailed statistical analysis, that the various coronavirus-related restrictions implemented in selected major countries (U.S., Italy, France, China, Iran, South Korea) substantially reduced the number of illnesses and deaths. It concludes: “We find that anti-contagion policies have significantly and substantially slowed this growth. Some policies have different impacts on different populations, but we obtain consistent evidence that the policy packages now deployed are achieving large, beneficial, and measurable health outcomes. We estimate that across these six countries, interventions prevented or delayed on the order of 62 million confirmed cases, corresponding to averting roughly 530 million total infections.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2404-8_reference.pdf
That is pretty significant; worldwide, there have been 7.7 million cases, according to the Johns Hopkins site.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
And here’s another view of what’s happened with the lockdowns: countries run by women have done way better in outcomes than countries run by men.
“I compiled death rates from the coronavirus for 21 countries around the world, 13 led by men and eight by women. The male-led countries suffered an average of 214 coronavirus-related deaths per million inhabitants. Those led by women lost only one-fifth as many, 36 per million.
If the United States had the coronavirus death rate of the average female-led country, 102,000 American lives would have been saved out of the 114,000 lost.
“Countries led by women do seem to be particularly successful in fighting the coronavirus,” noted Anne W. Rimoin, an epidemiologist at U.C.L.A. “New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway have done so well perhaps due to the leadership and management styles attributed to their female leaders.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/13/opinion/sunday/women-leaders-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
That’s not accurate, by a long shot–“all the big stores were open for business, while all the Mom and Pops’ were forced to close.” Walmart happens to be America’s largest grocery outlet, accounting for about 20% of food sales. I’m not saying that’s good or right, but it’s a reality.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/20/business/walmart-groceries-kroger-aldi/index.html
From everything I could see, small food outlets stayed open. Mark McAfee’s company, Organic Pastures, was out delivering to food outlets of various types, according to his accounts here. I know I was saved by being able to buy from several very small outlets and farms. Many small farms around the country saw their business soar as the corporate system buckled.
Yes, there were inequities. Maybe Walmart shouldn’t have been allowed to open its non-food operations. Restaurants large and small have had a terrible time. I found it odd that gun stores were declared essential businesses and allowed to remain open in some places, while so many others were shut down.
But overall, Olson’s assertion is way off.
Joseph,
We saw this in CA. Walmart never lost a beat. Open all the time. Selling a very broad range of products. Pants, shoes, food, everything. Meanwhile, Most other clothing stores are shut.
Who was at the table when the rules for Covid were created ?
I pays to be at the table. Big business always makes sure it is at the table.
Published on Revolution For Choice’s facebook page
They Called Them Crazy
Two small pills to keep your baby safe
Perfectly safe and harmless, they said
All good mothers do
But then they called them hysterical
They called them unglued
When the women protested –
“Our wombs had been ravaged
And our daughters are damaged”
Yet for half a century they suppressed
4.8 million lives and counting harmed by DES.
They called it a miracle drug,
A cure for nerves, a cure for all
“Our research has proved it once and for all”
So they called them all crazy,
When mothers took to the streets
Cradling their damaged babies born
With missing hands and feet
A causal connection they fiercely denied
20,000 defects, 80,000 laid to rest
Before we finally knew the truth about Thalidomide.
“It will save hundreds of thousands” they said
A cure for every disease and pest!
Douse your home and garden
And where your children lay to rest,
A miracle of modern science, trust us, we know best
So they called her Crazy Carson
When she began to passionately protest
But they said its for “the greater good”
And her warnings they did not heed
It was 1972 before we understood
The poison effects of DDT.
They said they weren’t addictive
No one should be in pain –
Proven safe and effective
Were their scientific claims
Until the death toll started climbing
And the people starting doubting.
They called the victims addicts
They called it psychological
50,000 overdoses but
They said they weren’t responsible
20 years of lies and negligence,
And 700,000 opioid victims before
They could no longer deny the evidence.
“This new wonder drug is worth every penny
Completely safe and effective
We’ve paid for all the studies”
So they called the people crazy
When they demanded investigation
As to why a medicine meant to heal
Was stopping hearts across the nation
They said “the science is settled
We’ve done all the tests,
There is no connection between
Our drug and 50,000 deaths.”
But until Vioxx was removed from shelves
The people would not rest.
They said, “We’ve finally done it,
the greatest achievement of mankind!
We’ve successfully eradicated
Every disease that we can find
If you love your children line them up,
And follow our advice”
But how can we believe you
When your history is full of lies?
They call us crazy
They call us anti-science
The parents in the street
Who stand in noncompliance
You say your studies show no evidence of harm
Yet we continue to bury children
And carry the injured in our arms.
We have seen the data you bought and paid for
To silence all alarm.
You say we must not love our children
Quite as much as YOU do
Or we would not dare to question
If all your data is true.
True like DES and Thalidomide?
True like DDT and Vioxx?
Just like your deadly painkillers
And your holy antibiotics?
The only power greater than you
Is a parent who has seen the truth.
Now the mothers won’t stop yelling
and pounding on the walls
As long as our children are sick and dying
We will hold up in your halls
Until we see justice
For the crimes you have committed
And the world sees every fact and figure
You conveniently omitted
You will hear our voices amplified
From the ramparts we will sing
Until not one more child is sacrificed
To corporate greed and tyranny.
You can call us all mad
You can put us in quarantine
But you will never force us to bow
At the altar of your vaccine
You can try to take our rights
And divide our land with fear
But we who have seen the light
Know your Judgment Day is near
From everywhere we are rising
From sea to shining sea —
No longer human commodities
We stand in our sovereignty.
AG.
The COVID-19 pandemic is dependent on speculation, fear, misinformation, and submission to a higher authority. This in turn has resulted in an escalation of the loss of civil liberties and without a doubt if the powers that be have it their way a massive compulsory vaccination campaign will ensue. The greater good/utilitarian rational, an “ethically and morally corrupt” philosophy, is once again rearing its ugly head.
“The Hideous Truths of Testing Vaccines on Humans”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2020/06/12/willowbrook-scandal-hepatitis-experiments-hideous-truths-of-testing-vaccines-on-humans/?fbclid=IwAR1RL38832JeBaajZyjQMGxuRe2xzRDn53dSSm3YGTkvC8C-ykXKL7nvBaU#4eba75d4279c
“Sixty years ago, a monstrous hepatitis experiment was performed on mentally disabled children at Willowbrook State School that raises serious ethical questions about vaccine challenge trials for Covid-19.”
Several studies over the last few years have demonstrated that there is an increased incidence of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) following influenza vaccination. What are the chances that health officials will explore the possibility that there is a relationship between influenza vaccination and the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and deaths? The following British Medical Association (BMJ) article published on 19 February 2020 states that there is a direct relationship between the flu shot and coronavirus infections and made reference to at least two studies that have received little attention from public health authorities…
“We hear so much about the vital importance of flu shots that it will come as a nasty surprise to learn that they increase the risk of illness from noninfluenza virus infections such as rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, RS viruses, parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, HMP viruses and enteroviruses.”
https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m626/rr
“Lessons from the Lockdown—Why Are So Many Fewer Children Dying?”
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/lessons-from-the-lockdown-why-are-so-many-fewer-children-dying/?fbclid=IwAR3DkUSVi7kGES3Q7Qvz6pKWpxubAAFjRm2C0dijysdYTBiV-ak-LY8Fsus
“To the extent that policies have varied across the states, it is not clear that the imposition and/or presence of stringent lock‐down policies had much to do with the variation in excess deaths. Less stringent lockdown policies were not associated with higher death rates. In fact, the 5 states that chose not to impose a lockdown are among the roughly 20 jurisdictions with no excess deaths at all. [2]”
“As untimely deaths spiked among the elderly in Manhattan nursing homes and in similar settings all over the country, something mysterious was saving the lives of children. As springtime in America came along with massive disruptions in family life amid near universal lockdowns, roughly 30% fewer children died.
‘Was this a protective effect of school closures? Were teenagers getting themselves into risky situations at a lower rate? No. There was very little effect among school age children or adolescents. [3]
‘Virtually the entire change came from infants. Somehow, the changing pattern of American life during the lockdowns has been saving the lives of hundreds of infants, over 200 per week.”
“As pharmaceutical companies around the world rush to bring a coronavirus vaccine to market, I strongly object to being forced to receive the vaccine when it becomes available. I oppose any government measures that call for coerced or mandated medical interventions, including mandatory coronavirus vaccinations, and I will vote for my representatives accordingly. No pharmaceutical product or procedure should ever be forced, particularly a fast-tracked, experimental vaccine that is free from liability for any harm it might cause — be it a reaction, injury or death.
‘I recognize that our officials are charged with safeguarding public health by slowing the spread of infectious disease, but they also took a sworn oath to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of their constituents. One cannot be sacrificed or exchanged for the other. Medical mandates have no place in a free society and violate free, prior and informed consent. As such, I join the undersigned in urging policymakers at every level of government to immediately reject all calls for mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. Without health freedom there is no true freedom.”
https://standforhealthfreedom.com/action/say-no-forced-coronavirus-vaccine/?fbclid=IwAR2vl0qQVtKVFoA1uR1d4cOYwaPfRjQnZ8vsyKcJWtKcNViOdQnf1FyBC10
Ken, join me in staying “off the radar” it’s much saferer I’d much rather take a chance in nothing than anything/ I don’t trust doctors, scientists, or my next door neighbor. I trust my dogs though. Lots of humming birds right now, they’re just so beautiful and sound great
As to vaccines, they are plain and simple, SMALL poison. Think about it, you expose yourself to a litttle bit so you can develop antibodies. Sick.
“Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Other Billionaires Invest in Environmentally-Friendly Artificial Breast Milk Cultured From Human Mammary”
https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/26137/20200620/billionaires-invest-environmentally-friendly-artificial-breast-milk-cultured-human-mammary.htm?fbclid=IwAR3MVhF2M7SZb5Mcp7g2aOa1SUFUzeeSgZm-feWPxEz1glSxEBwLecO1aUg
This is far from naturally produced breast milk that contains a complex array of antibodies and living microbes that relies on the mother’s symbiotic relationship to her environment and therefor makes her milk a complete wholesome food… The following statement by the company is reason enough for me to be leery of the process, “the company claims to be a pioneer in producing integral components of milk within the same system using an approach that is sterile from beginning to end.” This relentless attempt by control freaks to pursue sterile food is not productive in any way shape or form…
Not so quick, Ken, if you look at this in the context of being an improvement on infant formula, which presents so many problems. This statement from the cell biologist co-founder resonates: “BIOMILQ co-founder and cell biologist Leila Strickland said that with their artificial breastmilk, parents, caregivers, and infants would be presented with more options for their early-stage nutrition. She adds that they are determined to create a better Earth for future generations.
In an interview with Business Insider, she told reporters that her inspiration behind the concept had been her own struggles with breastfeeding her son. She realistically addresses how exclusive breastfeeding may not be for everyone, and even impossible for some who are eager to go that route.
She adds how some women struggle with low milk production, the stigma on breastfeeding in public, incompatible workplaces, or families using formula out of necessity, the options left for providing nourishment for babies are sub-optimal.”
In discussing the article with my wife, I noted the possible improvement (with reservations to the overall manufacturing process) over other infant formulas currently being used… That said, sterile food will not create a better earth for future generations.
David is there a way to erase yourr comnets?
“As Biomilq’s founders assure their would-be customers that their mammary-cell-cultured product will “combine the ‘nutrition of breastmilk’ with the ‘practicality of formula,” current and would-be moms would do well to remember that breast milk is “complex,” “dynamic” and “highly personalized,” with sophisticated components that “don’t come from the breast alone”—including antibodies from the mother’s immune cells, hormones from the mother’s endocrine system and beneficial bacteria from the mother’s microbiome. Instead of investing millions in a lab-grown product fraught with technical challenges, those who really want to make a difference should educate women on the unique benefits of breastfeeding. It would also make sense to try to eliminate backward policies in the workplace as well as cultural and other barriers that, for some women, make breastfeeding challenging.”
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/more-gates-funded-brave-new-world-science-fake-breast-milk/?utm_source=salsa&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=6c5b5f4e-d8a7-46bb-8555-37f2bf7519eb
If a mother wants to increase breast milk production….drink more raw milk!!
https://aircrafthbot.org/white-paper
I wish I could claim this idea for my own. This is brilliant and utilizes parked 747, 767, 787 and other large aircraft to save Covid ill people.
Evidently, hyperbaric treatment of Covid virus works very well. Intubation is associated with 60-80% death loss.
According to this paper, covid patients survive 100% of the time under Hyperbaric conditions with added oxygen. It is non invasive and provides benefits at the cell level that intubation does not provide.
Hyperbaric high PAO2 oxygen delivery to cells is increased and is also very anti inflammatory hence addresses the CYTOKINE inflammation storm. Bingo….aircraft are pressure vessels built for this. We have thousands of them just sitting!! The pressure systems can be utilized on the ground using auxiliary power units. No need to fly….but the entire aircraft can be flown to hot spots immediately.
Leadership in this country is in a vacuum. We have put function idiot in charge and he has put YES people all around himself. We can not expect brilliance from an idiot.